How To Investigate Your Date
It came as a big shock to the entire army when that General accepted that he had tampered with his birth-records at the time of his first appointment. He had changed his date of birth so as to show himself to be 3 years younger by tampering with the figures very carefully. At first glance, it was barely detectable, however on further inspection, it was quite apparent. At the time of enrolment, the maximum age limit was 23 years. He as too old to qualify so he changed his birth records so that he could get in.
He was regarded as a diligent and stern General, who ruled with a firm hand. He didn’t suffer fools and loved to rule with an iron fist. He was physically daunting and set an example of himself. However this single fault, caused his career to be untarnished. John was a thorough employee. He was always on time to office. He did his job tirelessly, working late to finish any tasks and never putting off any duties. John was well- like and respected in the office, people loved to be around him at work. When he was at home, he was unhappy, he argued with his wife, he yelled at his kids, he lived a very different life when he was at home.
It was the result of a mismatched marriage. His wife was very dominating and demanding. She expected him to take her out every day. She would call him while he was at the office with numerous threats of retreating to her parent’s house if he was not home early. She would even ring up his boss every second day and tell him to send John home early on some pretext or the other. One afternoon, his wife phoned him, threatening to bring him into a court of law. She said that their marriage records were missing and she was certain that he had destroyed them to get rid of her.
This happened about two years ago when my friend Chris and I were headed home from a party. I was the driver and he was the passenger. Just as we were nearing his home, I noticed the telltale lights of a cop car flashing behind us. I pulled over and waited for the officer. To our great shock, the cop drew his weapon and shouted at us to leave the vehicle slowly, with our hands where he could see them! We were extremely surprised, but we complied with the officer’s wants. I was surprised because my name is nowhere in the police records of our city.
It quickly became evident that the police officer was under the impression that I was a drug delear. I was then informed that my car was a close match to the drug delear’s car description they had on file. We all had a good laugh afterwards as we continued on our way to my friends house.
Filed under Family | Comment (0)NO CONTEMPT if A PARENT are not able to PAY CHILD SUPPORT in Florida
An unfortunate aspect of the family law system in Florida is parents are sometimes unlawfully threatened with incarceration for failure to pay child support when they actually can’t afford to pay. While some parents willingly refuse to honor their child support obligations, others would like to pay but cannot. They may have lost a job. They may have other children with special needs that impede their ability to pay. They may have medical or other problems that hamper their financial circumstances. Often they lack the ability to hire an attorney, and free legal services, such as Legal Aid, refuse to help them. Fortunately, Florida’s appellate courts offer a source of relief to the parent who legitimately cannot pay his or her child support. As an expert in labor & employment litigation, Attorney Peter Mavrick has significant experience in cases such as this.
The Florida Department of Revenue generally files civil contempt proceedings against non-paying or financially delinquent parents. The objective of the Department is to force the non-paying parent to pay money. However, as explained by a recent Fourth District Court of Appeal case, Larsen v. Larsen, 949 So.2d 278 (Fla. 4th DCA 2007), and its predecessor Larsen v. Larsen, 901 So.2d 327 (Fla. 4th DCA 2005), civil contempt is not available against a parent who lacks the ability to pay a “purge” amount. A purge amount means a figure a court says will be needed to avoid a penalty, such as incarceration. The critical question is, does the financially delinquent parent have the ability to pay the court ordered purge? If the evidence, not hunch or guess-work, shows that he or she cannot pay the purge, then there can be no civil contempt or penalty against the financially delinquent parent.
In the 2007 Larsen decision, the appellate court reversed a trial judge who held a father in civil contempt for failing to pay his full child support, which had been previously calculated before his financial circumstances had changed. The father tendered evidence that he lacked the income to pay child support, because he had to pay rent of $560/month, $200/month to the Internal Revenue Service, and paid his ex-wife $500/month; the ex-husband stipulated his monthly income was $1,700. In other words, the ex-husband had only $440/month to somehow make ends meet, such as buying food to eat, paying for any needed transportation to and from work, and paying for other necessities such as medical care. The former wife “admitted she did not know the former husband’s salary or if he had the ability to satisfy his financial obligations.” The appellate court determined that there was “no substantial, competent evidence to support the trial court’s finding that the former husband had the ability to pay the full amount of the previously ordered support and willfully refused to pay the same.” The appellate court determined that the trial court could not hold the father in contempt and couldn’t require him to pay more money to the ex-wife; the appellate court reversed the trial court’s decision.
The Larsen case illustrates the general principle that child support obligations must be reasonable and cannot be used as a weapon to force payment a parent does not have. As economic situations get worse, this case will become an important defense for parents whose finances do not legitimately allow them to meet their previously calculated child support obligations.
Attorney Peter Mavrick practices in the field of business and labor/employment litigation in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. The research in this article comes from a pro bono case in which Mr. Mavrick represented someone in need. Mr. Mavrick’s law office phone number is (954) 564-2246. Information contained in this article is accurate as of December 2008. This article is for general information use only, and does not substitute for specifically tailored legal advice.
Filed under Family | Comment (0)Effective Child Discipline- Using the Time Out
Do you get frustrated when your child keeps on testing your boundaries? Sometimes it feels as if you are always in a child discipline battle field, and you just want to win the war! It’s so easy to get discouraged and feel like giving up. I know because I have been there.
One powerful way of disciplining a young child is to use the ‘time out’ method. In fact, the time out method can work with children as young as 18 to 24 months old. By using time out as a form of child discipline, parents give the child time to sit quietly and be by themselves after misbehaving. It is important to do this before the parent gets to the point of becoming furious or confounded with the child.
This article explains how to use the ‘time out’ methodology as part of child discipline
As with all matters of child discipline the timeoutsystem should be planned and discussed ahead of any potential situation where it might be used. Children should understand that if they have been requested to complete a task or to stop an undesirable behavior, and they do not comply, that the consequence will be timeout. Decide on an area of the home where the time out will be held.
The location of the time out area should be a place where the child is isolated from interacting from others, but can be observed and is a place of safety.
This can be an area of the room, a certain spot on the floor or even a chair that is specifically designated for time outs.
The length of time taken for a time out should be age appropriate to the child. It is a good to allocate one minute for each year of the child’s age. Have realistic expectations concerning the time out. For example, it is unreasonable to expect a toddler to be able to sit still completely and they should not be forced to try. However for an older child to sit still on quietly would be a realistic expectation.
The time out system needs to be used on occasions when the child understands that they need to complete certain tasks, or to stop a certain unacceptable behavior. First the child should be asked firmly and pleasantly to stop the behavior or complete the task. If after the warning about the behavior, the misbehavior still continues, then the timeout consequence can be used.
Never use the time out method for accidental behavior such as spilling a drink or knocking something over. The time out system should be used after the child has been warned that a certain behavior needs to be stopped or a task needs to be completed. When the child continues to disregard the instruction, having understood what they should do, at that point the time out is a good consequence. If the behavior still persists firmly escort the child to the time out location and explain clearly why they are being sent there. Keep your tone calm but firm.
After they have spent the designated time in the area it is important to discuss with them why they were sent there and if the behavior continues or occurs again, they will be sent to time out as a result. With older children there needs to be an agreement that they will do what it was that you instructed them to do before the time out. Children also need to understand that if they leave the time out area before the designated time is up that they will lose privileges.
Time outs can be very effective in the home environment, but they can also be used outside of the home. Parents can use time out in grocery stores, restaurants, or when visiting another home. However it’s important to emphasize to the child that you will enforce a time out should misbehavior occur while you are out. It is equally important to be consistent and to follow through with time out should they misbehaved. If you don’t, your the child is quick to understand your own inconsistency and will be very likely to test your boundaries to the limits, especially when other people are present.
Many parents struggle with aspects of child discipline. The time out is one of several effective approaches you can use.If you are feeling that everything you try doesn’t work, don’t be afraid to get some help with your child discipline challenges.
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